Prior art electrical connectors have generally been provided in standardized configurations for mating a fixed number of electrical contacts to a printed circuit board. Fixed number of contacts are positioned for mating by being disposed in the receptacles of an insulative housing. The receptacles of electrical connectors of standardized configurations are arranged in odd or even numbers of rows containing identical numbers of receptacles. Further, the rows of contact receptacles may be symmetrical or asymmetrical for a given connector.
Standardized configurations are formed by molding an insulative material into a housing having rows of receptacles which support or house the fixed number of contacts. Each standardized configuration requires individualized molding equipment to form one standardized housing having the required number of rows of receptacles.
Generally, each specific application requires an electrical connector capable of housing a specified number of electrical contacts in a particular row configuration. Several options are available to equipment manufacturers to ensure the availability of electrical connectors suitable for each specific application.
Firstly, an equipment manufacturer can fabricate a standardized housing configuration for each specific application as it occurs. This is generally not cost effective since the specialized mold equipment must be developed prior to fabricating the connector housings. In addition, such a process has an inherent time lag which is generally disadvantageous in the competitive business environment.
Secondly, the equipment manufacturer can store a limited stock of standardized connector configurations capable of housing predetermined numbers of electrical contacts. This option, however, is generally disadvantageous in that it will often be necessary to use a larger standardized connector configuration than required by the number of electrical contacts to be mated. This will result in unused receptacles and in general will cause the connector to occupy excessive space on the printed circuit board.
Lastly, the equipment manufacturer can store an extensive stock of standardized connector configurations to ensure a space-effective connector is available to house almost any predetermined number of electrical contacts. This option is disadvantageous in that excessive money and space is tied up in the extensive stock of standardized connector configurations.